Board Approves New 911 Communications Tower and Telecommunications Ordinance Changes
During an October 13 special meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved a 199-foot communications tower that will connect the county’s emergency radio network to its new 911 dispatch center located next to the Read Mountain Fire & EMS Station.
Tower Specifications
The lattice-style tower will be constructed by Diamond Communications at 40 East Park Circle Road and stand inside an 8,000-square-foot fenced area with a 10-foot landscaped buffer.
The site plan puts the tower 48 feet from the property line, 159 feet from the U.S. 220 frontage and 83.6 feet from East Park Drive.
The communications tower will serve as the core hub linking the county’s North and South regional radio systems and seven other towers to the dispatch center. Two redundant fiber lines and a backup microwave link will connect it.
The structure is designed to meet ANSI/TIA Category II standards, withstanding 109 mph winds and a lifespan of 30+ years. The Federal Aviation Administration does not require lighting at the top because the tower is under 200 feet and nine miles from the nearest airport.
Under the lease, Diamond will build and own the tower itself and pay the county $25,000 up front. The county will receive 40% of the revenue from the first carrier to lease space and 50% from each later carrier, about $1,000 a month per carrier. The tower is engineered for up to three mobile communications carriers, along with the County's equipment.
County equipment will go at 140 feet, and future carriers are planned for 170 and 180 feet. Verizon has already committed as the primary tenant at 190 feet.
Each carrier must pass its own structural analysis, and a failed analysis requires engineered modifications. Plans call for quarterly landscape maintenance and annual third-party structural inspections.
What’s Next?
The project faces a tight schedule. Permits and radio testing must be completed before foliage falls in 2027, and the testing window runs from July or August to Sept. 15. Missing it could delay the work until June 1, 2028, and trigger penalties from Motorola Solutions estimated at just over $1 million. Construction of the tower is expected to be completed by Spring 2027.
Below is a mockup of the tower as viewed from a car driving from Route 460 toward the Read Mtn. Fire/EMS Department.
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